It’s been a busy fall for Tennessee athletics so far, with success early across the four active sports for the university. With the football, volleyball, soccer and cross country seasons now well underway, each Vols and Lady Vols squad has got off to a hot start in their respective seasons.

Here’s a look at where each team is heading into October.

Tennessee football

Coming off a gutsy 41-34 overtime win in Starkville over Mississippi State on Saturday, Tennessee football will get its first bye of the season this week. The No. 15-ranked Vols (4-1, 1-1 SEC) will come home for Arkansas before hitting the road to face its newly minted permanent rivals in Alabama and Kentucky.

Through the first five weeks, quarterback Joey Aguilar and receiver Chris Brazzell II have been the driving force of Tennessee’s offense, one that has looked night and day different from a year ago.

Aguilar has thrown for 1459 total yards, 13 touchdowns to five interceptions, while Brazzell has 531 total yards for seven touchdowns, which is good for second in the SEC.

The connection between Aguilar and Brazzell this season has been something the Vols have not had in several years: explosive plays. Tennessee’s second-year wide receiver has been its most targeted wideout this season and has been at the core of what the Vols are doing offensively.

“We stick together no matter what, and we kind of play off of each other,” Aguilar said Saturday. “Defense got its highs. Offense got its highs. Defense got its low. Offense got its low. But we balance energy within each other, you know?”

The duo has found their way into the college football highlight reels with big plays all over the place, ranging from the 72-yard score against Georgia to some of Saturday’s plays in Starkville.

Despite the win this weekend, Tennessee will need every bit of the bye week as it currently has eight players out with injury. Defensive lineman Jaxson Moi and true freshman offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. got their first real game reps in the matchup in Starkville, with their top two cornerbacks, Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III, still out.

Tennessee soccer

Lady Vols soccer is off to what is perhaps the most dominant start in program history this season. Starting with an upset of No. 1-ranked North Carolina on Aug. 14, to going on a run of seven consecutive shutouts defensively, the team has been on an unprecedented run heading into SEC play.

What is the deepest the Lady Vols have had in recent years, if not ever, is highlighted by redshirt junior forward Shae O’Rourke, who has taken the reins of the dynamic Tennessee offense as well as freshman Reese Mattern and sophomore goalkeeper Cayden Norris in net.

All three have led Tennessee to wins over Missouri, Texas A&M and LSU to kick off conference play. O’Rourke has five goals and 10 points on 13 shots through five games so far and leads the team in game-winning scores, while Mattern also delivered a big goal to decide the match against the Aggies.

Norris has stepped up in the net, and head coach Joe Kirt has liked what he’s seen out of his sophomore goalkeeper and her ability to stabilize the team.

“She never panics,” Kirt said after the LSU game. “She’s always in control. It’s what Ally’s (Zazzara) done in the past and what Cayden has stepped into this year. She’s always confident, always composed. That helps the team in front of her take a deep breath and be like, ‘She’s got our back.’ And they do a lot in front of her, but she cleans up what they don’t. She’s been a big part of our success.”

Tennessee volleyball

Lady Vols volleyball is also off to a scorching hot start this season, having won 10 in a row heading into Friday’s matchup with LSU in Baton Rouge. Tennessee has swept Georgia and South Carolina to open conference play and upset No. 21 Georgia Tech earlier this season in the team’s first ranked win of the year.

It’s been a big year for physicality and offense for the No. 20-ranked Lady Vols, as head coach Eve Rackham Watt continues to be impressed with the depth and grit of this year’s squad.

“I think this team believes in themselves, they believe in each other,” Rackham Watt said after the South Carolina sweep. “It’s not my favorite thing, to be down in sets, but we’ve talked about it, and volleyball is such a sport of momentum, you’ll see a team go up three and down four, it’s pretty common, but I’m really proud of our way to find a way to just fight back.”

Paityn Chapman, Hayden Kubik, Zoe Humphrey and Chelsea Sutton have all been crucial to Tennessee’s hot start, combining for 343 kills on 687 attacks and 421 total points so far this season.

Humphrey was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week alongside Texas’ Abby Vander Wal. She recorded 13 blocks and 13 kills in the last two games, as Tennessee opens up conference play 2-0.

The sheer physicality of the team has helped the Lady Vols dominate the net both to start conference play and throughout the nonconference schedule. The only blemish on Tennessee’s resume so far has been a 3-1 loss to No. 15 Purdue in the Nashville Broadway Classic on Aug. 31, but the team has rattled off 10 straight wins, eight of which have been sweeps.

The schedule will not be kind to the Lady Vols, though, as the team will go on a road trip highlighted by Friday’s match in Baton Rouge, a matchup with No. 2 Texas in Austin on Oct. 8 and a match against Ole Miss in Oxford on Oct. 12 to wrap up the road trip.

Tennessee cross country

Tennessee cross country is off to a strong start as well, taking first-place finishes in both men’s and women’s races during the season-opening invitational on Aug. 29. The team took down No. 11-ranked Alabama and No. 9 Kentucky in the win.

“I think we’re definitely in a really good spot in terms of the depth and the talent right now,” head coach Justin Duncan said after the opening meet.

Mary Nyaboke Ogwoka has led the women’s squad through two races this season, with a 3-mile race time of 16:32:39 on Aug. 29 and a second-place finish of 19:07.7 in the Gans Creek Classic on Friday to help Tennessee finish 12th out of 30 in the women’s team race.

On the men’s side, Zouhair Redouane has immediately made his name known early with a dominant first-place effort with a 4-mile race time of 19:18:27 in the season opener, but he did not compete on Friday.

Sophomore Ethan Edgeworth was the runner-up for the men in the season opener and notched another runner-up on Friday with a 23:53.5 performance in the gold 8k race.

Tennessee will travel to Columbia, Missouri, on Oct. 18 for the Pre-National Invitational, also hosted by Missouri.